Get Key Decisions Right Or I'm Off

06 May 2013 20:26:10

John Brown is less than pleased with officialdom

Dundee manager John Brown has threatened to walk away from football if the SFA censure him for his post-game comments at the weekend. Aberdeen and Dundee drew 1-1 on Sunday with the Dons goal coming from the penalty spot. Brown described referee Alan Muir's decision to give the award a "disgrace" and argued it had relegated his side. Niall McGinn scored to level the scores but the single point gained by the Dens Park side was not enough to continue the fight for survival for another week. The penalty was awarded when Peter Pawlett fell theatrically as he ran past Lewis Toshney. Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has defended his player, who has previously been banned for diving, and insisted there was contact. However, Brown claims he would replace any player who won a penalty in such a way for his team.Brown went on: "I'd take him off right away. And if I feel as though the SFA would punish me for any outburst about any referee then I'd walk away from football. It's our livelihoods. It's the players' livelihoods. Players are going to lose their jobs, staff around Dens Park are possibly going to lose their jobs. "It was a high-profile game, a massive game. Surely they could change the officials and get the top officials?"Pawlett could face retrospective action for his part in the drama but Brown feels the SFA should look at lessons from their own perspective He said: "He is a young player and he's got previous but you have officials out there to deal with that. It was a blatant dive. He was diving with two feet before he has even come near the player. I'm not too concerned about the player, I'm concerned about the officials. The officials are the ones that have cost us the game. I have never seen a blatant a dive in a long time. The referee is 20 yards away, the assistant referee is just behind that. Surely he can see that? Dundee had an opportunity to take this down to another weekend and it was taken out of our hands by a diabolical decision. I'm still very bitter about it. Maybe the guy's okay, a decent referee, but he made a massive mistake. "I've been happy with the referees. We had some dodgy decisions, in the cup game against Dundee United the ball was out the park and they got a free-kick and got a goal from it. I've not complained about too many referees, in general they have been spot-on. I had a gripe about yesterday because it was a major decision."